Smith's Bible Dictionary.pdf - Online Christian Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary
•The name of a poor man in the well-known parable of (Luke 16:19-31) The name of Lazarus has
been perpetuated in an institution of the Christian Church. The leper of the Middle Ages appears
as a lazzaro . The use of lazaretto and lazarhouse for the leper hospitals then founded in all parts
of western Christendom, no less than that of lazaroni for the mendicants of Italian towns, is an
indication of the effect of the parable upon the mind of Europe in the Middle Ages, and thence
upon its later speech.
Lead
This is one of the most common of metals, found generally in veins of rocks, though seldom
in a metallic state, and most commonly in combination with sulphur. It was early known to the
ancients, and the allusions to it in Scripture indicate that the Hebrews were well acquainted with
its uses. The rocks in the neighborhood of Sinai yielded it in large quantities, and it was found in
Egypt. In (Job 19:24) the allusion is supposed to be to the practice of carving inscriptions upon
stone and pouring molten lead into the cavities of the letters, to render them legible and at the same
time preserve them from the action of the air.
Leaf, Leaves
The word occurs in the Authorized Version either in singular or plural number in three different
senses.
•Leaf of a tree. The righteous are often compared to green leaves. (Jeremiah 17:8) The ungodly,
on the other hand, are “as an oak whose leaf fadeth.” (Isaiah 1:30)
•Leaves of doors. The hebrew word, which occurs very many times in the Bible, and which in (1
Kings 6:32) (margin) and 1Kin 6:34 Is translated “leaves” in the Authorized Version, signifies
beams, ribs, sides, etc.
•Leaves of a book or roll occurs in this sense only in (Jeremiah 36:23) The Hebrew word (literally
doors) would perhaps be more correctly translated columns.
Leah
(wearied), the daughter of Laban. (Genesis 29:16) The dullness or weakness of her eyes was
so notable that it is mentioned as a contrast to the beautiful form and appearance of her younger
sister Rachel. Her father took advantage of the opportunity which the local marriage rite afforded
to pass her off in her sister’s stead on the unconscious bridegroom, and excused himself to Jacob
by alleging that the custom of the country forbade the younger sister to be given first in marriage.
Jacob’s preference of Rachel grew into hatred of Leah after he had married both sisters. Leah,
however, bore to him in quick succession Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, then Issachar, Zebulun
and Dinah, before Rachel had a child. She died some time after Jacob reached the south country
in which his father Isaac lived. She was buried in the family grave in Machpelah, near Hebron.
(Genesis 49:31) (B.C. about 1720.)
Leasing
(falsehood). This word is retained in the Authorized Version of (Psalms 4:2; 5:6) from the older
English versions; but the Hebrew word of which it is the rendering is elsewhere almost uniformly
translated “lies.” (Psalms 40:4; 58:3) etc.
Leather
The notices of leather in the Bible are singularly few; indeed the word occurs but twice in the
Authorized Version, and in each instance in reference to the same object, a girdle. (2 Kings 1:8;
Matthew 3:4) There are, however, other instances in which the word “leather” might with propriety
be substituted for “skin.” (Leviticus 11:32; 13:48; Numbers 31:20) Though the material itself is
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William Smith